Misty and Dulary had a delivery last week—two piles of sand. As mentioned last week, dusting is an all day event with the ladies, so two new piles were brought in, and placed further away from the barn. These new piles not only give them more to dust with, but also a reason to venture further out while doing something they enjoy. Misty and Dulary already spend time grazing and dusting at one of the piles, but have not yet ventured out to the second one. Not to worry, even in this short time span it has not gone to waste. Tarra returned to the barn for one of her visits, and immediately went to both of the piles, dusting herself with gusto before she found her way over to her sisters. The joys a pile of sand can bring.

Tange and Flora are thoroughly enjoying their mud wallow. We have reports of seeing them clean then covered in mud in a matter of minutes. Very nice.

The Threesome are sticking close to the barn area, still relishing the shade under the trees in Jenny’s wash. With recent rain showers, however, all have taken turns playing in the pond, and even dusting in the sand pile which was now all lovely, wet sand! It cooled off a bit more today, so all three moved around more, enjoying the habitat with a bonus—a nice breeze regularly passing through! Liz still gets spray baths when she asks for them, and all three do like to have a mid-day drink by the pond. Frieda even takes the hose and swings it around, spraying herself. One afternoon, she did a curious little move and tucked it in the fold of her neck below and behind her ear. She did this on both sides, just letting the cool water run down her body.

Minnie and Lottie are still spending lots of time in or near the Upper Pond. Baths are a common thing, and occasionally as you drive by on the road, if you sit still for a moment you can even hear them splashing as they spin around and play in the water. Minnie has also been having fun with a pretty new toy, a LARGE blue ball! One morning a caregiver went to feed breakfast, and found Minnie had accidentally knocked the ball through to the other side of the fence. After feeding, the caregiver rolled the ball back across the pasture toward Min and Lottie, and then stopped on top of a small rise. Then, rolled the ball down the hill toward the area Minnie was eating. Minnie turned, put her ears out, watched the ball roll, and went to meet it head on. She put it under her belly, poked it with her trunk and front foot, and then rested her back leg atop the ball. She rolled it around like this for a few minutes; she really seems to be having a good time with this recent addition to her habitat!

Ronnie and Debbie are just lovely as always, occupying the expansive habitat area up the hill past the South gate. They go back and forth between meeting a caregiver at the gate, then taking a leisurely stroll back down Barbie’s lane as they follow the 4-wheeler to get a drink and their meal, and sometimes waiting at the pond to greet the caregiver with squeaks and even a popping trunk from Debbie. Sometimes we find them tucked into the edge of the shady trees until their food arrives, or they may be just exiting the pond after getting a nice, red clay spa treatment!

These girls know how to take advantage of all the perks nature has to offer.